Just Mick
by Old Romantic
Summary: Post 1x08, 1,035 Words, Between Angst and Romance, Companion to JUST but can stand on its own. Beth realizes Mick's impact on her life.


**Title: **Just Mick

**Rating: G**

**Word Count: ** 1,035

**Genre/Ship: **Angst/Romance – somewhere in-between (MickBeth)

**Spoilers/Timeline: **Up through 1x08-12:04 A.M.

**Disclaimer: **Money spent on writing fanfiction: Zero dollars. Money being made on fanfiction: Zero dollars. Getting feedback from readers: Priceless.

**Summary:** Beth discovers Mick's impact on her life. Companion to "Just" (Mick's POV) but can stand on its own.

**A/N: **Enjoy!

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He was just a stranger. A man, a hero, a guardian angel. Someone she'd seen only once and dreamt about meeting again. For a time, he was in every face she'd see on the street, or when she was a teen, in every good-looking guy she liked, in person, on TV or movie screens. He could be anyone, anywhere. But she never expected to meet him and not recognize him immediately.

He just looked familiar; although for the first time in her life, her mind didn't automatically go to the man she'd fantasized about since she was four years old. Yet, something about him intrigued her to a point that she couldn't take her eyes off of him. Then he disappeared as if she'd imagined the handsome man. She thought for a while that perhaps she had.

He was just another investigator, someone who knew her work and complimented her on it. He had trusting eyes and she felt comfortable with him, despite the rational inward reminder that there was a killer on the loose out there and he _could _be him. But he wasn't – no, he was harmless.

He was just an acquaintance, an easy partner to work and share information with on a case. But he was becoming more. With each touch, he seemed to visibly be uncomfortable in a way she'd never seen; it was like he'd been without human interaction for too long. He was lonely, distant, and a little sad. She felt a pull to help him change that aspect of his life and barge right in with her friendship.

Maybe it was wrong to do so, but what if she hadn't? She'd be dead by the hands of a man that had killed two other women otherwise. He was just her savior; a man who was there when and where she needed him.

Slipping in and out of consciousness due to the drug administered by the murderer, she'd dreamt of her childhood and that horrible night she'd finally been rescued by her kidnapper. And it was the most vivid recollection she'd ever had in the form of a dream. The most shocking aspect was discovering that he was there, just as he was now, fighting her abductor, and carrying her home.

When she woke, she confronted him with this new information, but he wouldn't confirm it. She was confused, drugged and tired, so she just allowed him to take her home – again? – and went about life as usual.

She was catapulted into seeing him again when his name came up on another report she was working on and she found another reason to visit him, bearing a thank-you gift for rescuing her. Keeping their friendship intact for the selfish motivation of her story (at least that's what she told herself), she ended up in a situation where she had to save _his_ life. Then he disappeared again before she could ask the many questions that had come up during the incident.

He was just a friend and she wanted to make sure he was okay. She went to his apartment, looking for him, and found much more than she'd expected. He revealed his secret and trusted her with it.

He was just a vampire – a mythical creature and a being from fairy tales and horror films. How could it be possible?

How could it not?

Suddenly, everything made sense. He _was _that man, her rescuer. It explained why he looked the same as in her dreams, since she understood that vampires were immortal. What were the odds that he would be the one to save her again, when she ended up in a life-and-death situation for only the second time in her life? It was too big for her to even contemplate. She merely chalked it up to fate.

She discovered next that he was a murderer – a revelation that disturbed her more than any other. But through his explanation, she came to understand that his ex-wife had been detrimental to him and her death was necessary.

But she didn't have the whole truth. Not yet.

He was just a private investigator, trained to track people down and follow them without their knowledge; take their pictures, keep tabs on them. She never thought she'd be one of them.

She went snooping in his office and found his pictures of her from over the years. Starting from when she was a little girl, to a child, a teen, a young adult, and a woman, he was watching her. It naturally gave her the creeps.

He called before she could investigate the file further, just as she was cleaning up the pictures, and he warned her that they might be in danger and he'd be back soon. For the time being, the subject was pushed to the back of her mind until she was sure they were safe.

He was just her protector, concerned most about her well-being above all. He shielded not just the girl they were guarding, but her as well, from the gory details of cleaning up once they were safe. He kept them both away until it was all clear, tended to Beth's wound with patience and tenderness, and she began to see the truth. He wasn't a stalker. He was exactly the extra-ordinary man she'd been looking for all of her life.

She checked the file again when she had a chance, and in it, he noted that his ex-wife had been her abductor who'd died by his hands, in order to save her, that little girl. Now it all made sense.

Her heart changed and softened about the pictures when she recalled how safe she'd felt all throughout the years since her abduction and rescue when she was four. She owed that comfortable feeling to him. And she owed him the love that replaced the fear in her heart, no matter what.

He was hers for the rest of her life if she could somehow manage it, as long as she accepted him for what he was. Just a vampire that watched over her and kept her safe. Just her own personal protector, her guardian angel.

Just Mick. The immortal man she would love forever.

_End_

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Thank you for reading!!


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